Josh Smith

[ohara831]

I know there is a general rule about trading within your Division, but there seems to be a lot of talk that the Hawks are not going to be able to resign Josh Smith. Guy is only 22 and is a hell of a PF. Brings offense and defense. I think we are in the same boat with Okafor - last yr of Contract and deciding if we are going to resign or can resign.

Is there a package you would try to put together to get Smith in Charlotte? If it involved a Trade of either the #9 pick or a player, how would you forge something which Atlanta would take. I mean, May and #9 would get us laughed off the Board. Would you work out a S&T with Okafor and he? They would have to do more for us since a Center is much harder to find than a PF. But if we got Smith and had to give up Okafor, would you do it it you know you could land Brook Lopez at #9? Atlanta would probably move Horford to PF or let Okafor play PF, so it is feasible for them. But for us?

Just an interesting thought. I mean, he pretty often kicks our butt when we play Atlanta, so I'd much rather have him on Charlotte as opposed to against Charlotte.

[GoBobs]

Well we would probably have to sign and trade for smith so I might offer up Carroll, Dudley and the #9. Trading Mek doesn't really work for us because smith won't replace his rebounding.

It is much more likely that Atl lets childress go and resigns smith.

Charlotte needs to play a little hard ball with mek and get him to sign for a fair number (70 mil range)

[spectre]

I don't really see why ATL would want Mek with Horford on board...and if they'd pay Mek why not just pay Smith?

I'd love to have him as our 4, but our biggest tradable asset is Crash and they have Marvin. They're already young so a 9th pick couldn't be THAT attractive.

Don't really see a deal.

[Slam]

I don't really see why ATL would want Mek with Horford on board...and if they'd pay Mek why not just pay Smith?

I'd love to have him as our 4, but our biggest tradable asset is Crash and they have Marvin. They're already young so a 9th pick couldn't be THAT attractive.

Don't really see a deal.

Would they maybe see Marvin more as the future at the 3, Horford at the 4 which would allow EO50 at the 5?

It's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I am down with it. Lets say we did S&T EO50 for Smoove and then we drafted Jordan at #9 to replace the shot blocking/rebouding we would lose.

Would a line up of:

Felts
Swish
Crash
Smoove
Jordan

make us better or worse?

[spectre]

I just think Smith/Horford would be better than either Smith/Mek or Horford/Mek and I don't see the incentive for ATL. Remember the premise for getting Smith is they don't want to pay him...well why then would they instead pay Mek?

I can't answer your question about Jordan and us being better because I know nothing of most of the rookies, but I am starting to think a guy with Smith's skill set is much harder to come by than Mek's.

Heck, from what I've read there's like 4 or 5 guys we could get and pair with Smith...on the flip the only guys we could pair with Mek will have to done on a little faith that they'll develop.

[Slam]

Heck, from what I've read there's like 4 or 5 guys we could get and pair with Smith...on the flip the only guys we could pair with Mek will have to done on a little faith that they'll develop.

Very, very good point.

It sure does seem that every year there is a Sene/POB/S.Williams/Jordan that we could draft and use as a shot blocking and rebounding C.

It's going the other way that is proving the hardest.

Oh Blake Griffin. Why couldn't you just stay in the draft this year??

[ohara831]

I know Atlanta fans may wonder about why pay Okafor than Smith, but you also have to look at who is making the decision. Atlanta mgmnt may want Okafor at Center and move Horford to the PF. It may make more sense from the mgmnt perspective.

I just think about all the many many times we all raised hell about "where is Okafor?" and "why did he only take 6-8 shots" or "damn man, you're a Center, get more than 5 rebounds". We were yelling this about 1/2 the entire season. Smith didn't take games off. You read the Atlanta Boards, and they never complained about him the way we did about Okafor. Smith is tough, and only 22. He's going to get even better.

If we could find a way to do it, I cannot see it making us worse. The trick would be to do it without losing Ray, J-Rich and Crash, and then adding a Center via Draft or FA. Slam was suggesting POB for Center as a FA. I thought about #9 and Lopez as he is more ready to play at the Center and can give us inside offense. Slam suggested DeAndre Jordan at Center with #9. That is very intriguing. He'd have to play a yr behind Nazr at Center to play himself into the NBA Center position. But if he reaches his potential at Center, my gosh, that would give us a terrific starting 5 in the next few years.

[Keetch]

Josh Smith is a very exciting player, he truly is; but I don't see Coach Brown wanting any part of him. The times we've seen him live we've actually come to laughing at him on the court. To put it politely, when he has the ball, he most times will not be looking for his teammates.

So he's not exactly the model for playing the "right way."

If LB doesn't want Crash; he'd never want Smith.

[dnbman]

If LB doesn't want Crash; he'd never want Smith.

Yeah, Josh just seems like a more high flying, less skilled version of Wallace. I agree that it doesn't do much for us unless Smith really learns to control his game.

[TheBeagle]

I know Atlanta fans may wonder about why pay Okafor than Smith, but you also have to look at who is making the decision. Atlanta mgmnt may want Okafor at Center and move Horford to the PF. It may make more sense from the mgmnt perspective.

I just think about all the many many times we all raised hell about "where is Okafor?" and "why did he only take 6-8 shots" or "damn man, you're a Center, get more than 5 rebounds". We were yelling this about 1/2 the entire season. Smith didn't take games off. You read the Atlanta Boards, and they never complained about him the way we did about Okafor. Smith is tough, and only 22. He's going to get even better.

If we could find a way to do it, I cannot see it making us worse. The trick would be to do it without losing Ray, J-Rich and Crash, and then adding a Center via Draft or FA. Slam was suggesting POB for Center as a FA. I thought about #9 and Lopez as he is more ready to play at the Center and can give us inside offense. Slam suggested DeAndre Jordan at Center with #9. That is very intriguing. He'd have to play a yr behind Nazr at Center to play himself into the NBA Center position. But if he reaches his potential at Center, my gosh, that would give us a terrific starting 5 in the next few years.

Be that as it may, both games in Charlotte this year, I don't think Smith combined for over 10 points, and I'm almost certain he accumulated more fouls than points in both games combined; he was an absolute non-factor in the February game before the All Star break, the game we won in OT; and he had a few shot blocks in the March game, but still, foul trouble, and a general disinterest were glaring. I know his good games outweight these examples, but he's had a bad history in this building (the infamous "bird" to the fans when he was ejected in '07 ring any bells?), and it would be a bad fit. As always, though, good job generating dialogue during this pretty boring pre draft period.